Spring Recipe: Carrot Ribbon Fettuccine

I love May when all the seasonal farmers markets start to open. For the next 4 weeks, I'll be visiting the markets weekly near where I live in Northern California and buy ingredients to make a simple, vegetarian dish to share with you. This week there were gorgeous rainbow carrots at the market, along with lemons from a neighboring table. A fresh veggie fettuccine was definitely on the menu.

I used a vegetable peeler to make long slim ribbons from the carrots, and tossed them with fettuccine pasta which was about the same width. I like the ratio of carrot to pasta to be about one to one. I looked for long carrots so the ribbons would be more "pasta-like."

The carrots lighten the pasta dish a bit, but it's just as satisfying! The sauce is simply olive oil, lemon juice and parmesan. Garnish with a bit of basil and lemon zest (and more cheese, if you wish!) — it's a fresh and filling main course.

Carrot Ribbon Fettuccine

Serves 4

4-5 medium sized carrots

8 ounces fettuccine pasta

4 tablespoons olive oil

1 lemon (with zest removed for garnish)

1/4 cup shredded parmesan (plus a little more for garnish)

1 sprig of fresh basil (for garnish)

Coarse sea salt

Peel the carrot skin and discard. Then, working from top to bottom, peel thin ribbons from the carrots. Spin the carrot as you go to get similar width strips (the remaining cores can be used for a salad later).

Cook and drain the pasta.

In a large skillet, sautee´ the carrot ribbons with 2T olive oil and a pinch of salt until they become just slightly limp (about 3 minutes on medium heat). Turn the heat to low and add the cooked pasta to the skillet. Add the juice from 1 lemon, 2 more tablespoons of olive oil and 1/4c shaved parmesan. Toss to combine, then plate.

Garnish each plate of pasta with a pinch each of: lemon zest, coarse salt, basil and parmesan. Enjoy!